New Distinguished Professor Lar Lubovitch makes his UCI debut

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2017 – The University of California, Irvine Department of Dance will present master choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries in this year’s Dance Visions event, running Feb. 23-25 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The show premieres and reprises works from UCI Distinguished Professors and living legends of American modern dance Lar Lubovitch and Donald McKayle as well as choreography for George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie. Accompanied by the UCI Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Stephen Tucker, it will also feature original compositions from prominent UCI faculty.

“As a whole, the Dance Visions concert communicates a new kind of presence for the dance department, one that stands solidly on the foundation of educating dancers for the past 50 years and seeks to prepare dancers to be actively engaged over the next 50 years,” said Lisa Naugle, dance chair and co-artistic director of the annual event. “Having two Distinguished Professors in a dance department is unique and inspiring for everyone. The fullest meaning comes from all the faculty choreographers, those individuals who are in the dance studio every day teaching the students and working with them to make new experiences.”

Dance Visions 2017 will display an extensive mix of modern dance and traditional ballet with the restaging of two pieces from Lubovitch and Balanchine along with three new dances from McKayle, Chad Michael Hall and Molly Lynch.

Lubovitch, who joined the dance faculty last July, will restage “Legend of Ten: Part 1,” which debuted on the Baryshnikov Arts Center stage in 2010, with rehearsal assistance from one of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company members, Jonathan E. Alsberry. The work is choreographed to Johannes Brahms’ Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Cello in F Minor, Opus 34 and has both slow and quick movements for 10 dancers.

Valse Fantaisie, created by Balanchine – sometimes called the father of American ballet – for the New York City Ballet in 1953, will be performed by UCI dance students to Valse Fantaisie in B minor, by composer Mikhail Glinka. It’s being restaged by repetiteur John Clifford, with UCI dance lecturer Diane Diefenderfer as rehearsal director.

McKayle, whose career has spanned more than 27 years at UCI, has produced more than 90 dances internationally and will present new choreography entitled “Crossing the Rubicon: Passing the Point of No Return,” which will feature modern projection technology.

Hall, a UCI assistant professor, will premiere a modern piece, “Celestial Bodies,” with an original score by dance professor Alan Terricciano, accompanied by violinist and music professor Haroutune Bedelian. Lynch, an associate professor, unveils “A Moment,” with music by Maurice Ravel that will be performed by the UCI Symphony Orchestra.

About the Claire Trevor School of the Arts: As UCI’s creative laboratory, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts explores and presents the arts as the essence of human experience and expression through art forms ranging from the most traditional to the radically new. The international faculty work across a wide variety of disciplines, partnering with others across the campus. Nationally ranked programs in art, dance, drama and music begin with training but end in original invention. Students come to UCI to learn to be citizen-artists, to sharpen their skills and talents, and to become the molders and leaders of world culture. For more information, visit www.arts.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

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Image: The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performs "Legend of Ten," which will be performed by UCI dance students as part of Dance Visions 2017. Photo by Cheryl Mann Photography.